Brooklyn, NY - NYT Hails Judge Ruchie Freier As “Hasidic Superwoman”

Published on: November 19th, 2017 at 11:54 AM

Brooklyn, NY - A year after being elected as the first Chasidic civil court judge in New York State and becoming the first Chasidic woman to hold public office in the United States, Judge Ruchie Freier continues to walk a tightrope that few have managed to navigate successfully.

Currently presiding as a night judge in the city’s criminal court system, Freier manages to maintain a delicate balance between her job, the volunteer women’s ambulance corps that she founded and serves on, and her roles as an Orthodox Jewish wife, mother and grandmother.

A New York Times takes a look at Freier’s multi-dimensional world, where she serves both as a voice for change and as an articulate emissary for the Chasidic world, doling out justice with the experienced eye of someone who has worked with troubled individuals and understands their predicaments, hoping to guide the low level defendants who appear before her in a more positive direction.

Through it all, Freier remains dedicated to her Torah values, praying nightly for guidance before taking the bench and creatively extending the definition of conformity without every compromising on the religious standards that have guided her throughout her life.